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Five races in three days.. doesn’t sound
too difficult huh? I mean the races are short, heck one is even
a 5K OR a mile swim (20 minutes or so and it’s over) – plus the
team concept of competing WITH another person is an added
twist. They throw in 2 nights lodging, meals, a cool racing
jersey, and loads of other perks… this Max-O-Mania race was
going to be a great time at some swanky resort in Missouri.
There might even be a cocktail waitress to serve us drinks. Not
only fun, this was going to be a breeze.
Pam and I signed up to compete in the
married couple division. Anticipating the martial carnage, I
was planning on titling the post race report – “how to bicker in
the water, on a bike, and during the run.” Or “yelling your way
through transitions”.. but when Pam had a medical issue, I had
to find a partner last minute and change divisions. (didn’t
think I could get a new wife in 4 days).
Cue the superhero theme music…. That’s
where Gerald Kubick came in…. with less than a weeks notice, he
agreed to drop his plans and come along to compete in the race
with me. We changed divisions and thus Team Nebraska at the
Max-o-mania was born.
The first race wasn’t until Friday night,
but they said the rooms were going to be first come/first serve
– so, like the rush to be the first to get the best spot in
transition, we rushed down to Missouri to get the best room.
Didn’t matter – all the rooms were great – they grouped three
teams into each three bedroom/four bath condo. Lake front
views, full kitchen, etc. and a two other triathlon teams to
talk triathlon with and show each other our triathlon stuff with
as we prepared to do triathlon things.
At registration we realized this was a
little different race. After signing away all rights and my
first born – they started handing you stuff. It was kind of
like in the army – walking through with open arms as they pile
on the “swag”. They also were planning to award a yellow
jersey to the division leaders each day, and rumor had it there
was some serious prize money for the top 3 or 4 in our division.
You know what was really unique, the transition area was not
only pre-assigned – but they were stocked with towels and get
this – a chair… how cool. Didn’t see a cocktail waitress yet,
but figured she would be around sometime soon.
The first race was a short sprint – 600y
s/10m b/1.5m r. Piece of cake, less than an hour and we would
be on to the bar. I guess we were in such a hurry to get to our
room that we failed to notice the Alp-like hills of the swanky
resort. I guess steep hills that go from water level to a
couple of hundred feet make for good lake home property,
because there were a lot of these hills. But that’s not all –
you know the best thing about a hill – yes, going down hill
afterwards, well they managed to steal away that little pleasure
by adding speed bumps at the bottom of each hill. So much for
momentum for the next climb.
And then there was the run. In my opinion
the only thing missing from the run was people shooting at us.
There were hills on top of hills on the gravel roads snaking
through the forest. Apparently hills also make for good forest
property too.
Ya, and another funny thing happened – you
remember all those fun triathlon talking fellow competitors…
well they happened to show up ready to go all out for these
sprint races. Guess they didn’t see the race as a warm up for
the disco.
The first race was a prolog – each
teammates individual results would be added together to get the
teams ranking. The ranking would determine the starting order
in one of the later races. We did pretty well, I did my
normal triathlon routine… after the swim I get to watch the
parade of bikers pass me as the race goes by. The hills
continued to kick my butt, and those short 10 miles seemed to be
pretty darn long. Thankfully the run was pretty short and to
our delight, the last mile into the finish line was slightly
downhill.
Combined, Gerald and I ended up in the top
10 teams, fourth in our division… amazing what can happen when
you add a great time to my performance, thank you Gerald.!!
They fed us that night, we watched a slide
show of the race pictures, I think I saw one of my lungs lying
on the road by the first hill, and headed back to our condo.
Apparently we didn’t pay that much attention to our roommates –
because one of the guys crashed pretty badly (broken ribs,
collapsed lung, etc) on the race that day. Kind of a sobering
sight to see the results of a bad bike accident. He pledged to
be back next year, his partner pledged to continue the race,
Gerald hit them up for their beer.
The next day was the big day – three
races. A duathlon –run/bike/run/bike in the morning. The twist
– the bike was draft legal. And our team time was the slowest
of our two times. So it was in the teams best interest to stay
together. If any of you know Gerald – you know the guy can run
like a gazelle. I don’t. So he enjoyed a leisurely a trot in
the forest as I labored through the run. We got to the bike and
I experienced what would be one of my favorite parts of this
race – legalized drafting!! What a blast. No wonder it’s
illegal – like good drugs – it felt so good!! We were doing
really well – Gerald working – me drafting and in fact in the
second run we were passing people. We were improving our
rankings. Until the second bike section.
Remember the hills. Well there was one
particular hill that was evil, and it didn’t like us. The
feeling was mutual. Right after the decent from the start line,
across a dam, and obligatory speed bump, lay this evil pile of
dirt. Climbing up it, my chain popped out right as I was
peddling down and somehow I managed to twist one of the chain
links 90 degrees. Not enough to break it, but enough to keep it
from going through the derailer. We were screwed. With the
tool kit in my bag, and another guys who was biking by and a lot
of elbow grease we lost over 13 minutes to get the bike
working. So much for a top 3 finish. We considered ourselves
lucky just to finish. Didn’t get a lot of sympathy from our
hurt roommate with all the broken bones, but it still hurt our
results. Got a new chain, tune up, and bike lobotomy.
Max-o-mania also had it’s own bike mechanic.
Lesser men would have thrown in the
customized transition towel, not us. We were heading into our
strengths – the surf and turf, swim or run, a race seemingly
made for us. Gerald would be able to let loose on the run and
me on the swim. And we did. Gerald finished in the top five
and I finished second—combined we were second best.
That evening we were on fire! Our results
from the prologue put us in seeded order for the bike start. It
was 10 miles up and around the resort, 800 yard swim, and 3 mile
run. Gerald’s chain fell off on the evil hill but we recovered
quickly and hit a groove. I have to say it again, Drafting
Rocks!!! We got off the bike in the top group and into the
water – where it was my turn. Our end time was based on the
slowest finisher – so with Gerald able to rest a little on the
run while pushing me– it is cool having a “domestice” to carry
my water bottle—we finished again in the top teams. Aside from
Gerald’s party shirt at the dinner that night, we were climbing
up the rankings and looked good.
The last morning the race scene was a
little different. You could see the weariness on most
everyone’s faces. It was a long couple of days – over 5 hours
of combined racing time so far and a lot of sore muscles. If
you have done an Ironman – you know the feeling – it hits about
mile 6 or so of the run – everything hurts, normal activities
are labored, and there is still a lot more ahead of you. Our
plan was to outlast the others, much like the successes in
Ironman – it’s not necessarily the fastest, but the ones who
fall apart the least who do well. We were feeling pretty good.
A true second half team.
After a strong swim by Gerald, we hit the
30 mile bike course of the close to the lead – my job was to
ride Gerald’s wheel and get to the run with fresh legs. I have
to say it again, Drafting is the best – we flew through the bike
course passed more people than passed us (a strange experience
for me on the bike). Onto the run where we began to pass some
of the other teams. Fresh legs on the run really made a
difference up and down and up and down the hills. Our strategy
seemed to work – as we compared ourselves to the other teams, we
were falling apart the least. We finished second in our
division that day, and ended up gaining over 5 minutes on the
other teams.
We watched the other teams finish. We saw
the relief the race was over. It was kind of like the finish
line of the Ironman- a sense of accomplishment, pride, and
weariness. At the awards ceremony we were surprised to learn we
jumped up in our division to fourth 40 seconds behind 3rd
and 4 minutes behind 2nd (darn chain problem). – the
4th place team was ineligible for the awards – so we
got third prize -- $400 gift certificates for EACH member, $800
total. Almost as cool as drafting.
Even without the prize money, we thought
the race was a blast. The multiple racing format involved
strategy and planning in addition to endurance and speed. It
combined the best of the Ironman experiences, but allowed the
ability to recover to still have a good race. We highly
recommend this race for anyone looking for an Ironman like
experience. This was a fun event because of the team, it was
fun because of the swag, it was fun because of the housing, and
it was fun because of the intimacy of getting to know the other
competitors.
They are going to add a club division next
year- with bragging rights for the best team. We, TNT, should
make a effort as a club should make it a goal to go for this
award. I will forward the announcements for next years race –
make sure you send in deposits early – to secure the best
housing options. These guys put on a great race, the entry fee
goes to a good cause, and the experience is one of those that
reminds you this a fun sport.
The cost was about the same as two people
doing an Ironman, after you calculate the hotel, meals, and
swag. And the ultraistic view – all the entry fee went to the
charity – they even have a way you could fund raise for the
charity to pay your entry fee. We have done a lot of
destination races in the past few years, this is the only one we
plan to do again. Besides it is the only race that encouraged
drafting, and we all know – drafting rules!! |
